Important Infrastructure Projects in HCMC and at the nationwide in 2022! (P2)

Following up with the 1st Part about HCMC’s Key Infrastructure Projects, in this email, we’ll cover the Metro HCMC Project Progress.

Metro No. 1 to hand-over HCMC center before April 30

Le Loi Street in District 1, the main construction of Ben Thanh Station, belonging to Metro Line 1, will be returned before April 30 to redesign the landscape and architecture.

On the afternoon of February 11, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hien, Deputy Manager of HCMC Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR – the investor), said that outside the scope of the 23/9 park, the entire system of streets and sidewalks on the Le Loi street will be handed-over before April 30. MAUR coordinates with relevant departments and units such as electricity, water supply and drainage… to speed up the implementation process to keep up with the schedule. This is also the final hand-over of the metro project in the center of District 1.

The ground above Ben Thanh station of Metro No. 1 in January 2022. Photo: Gia Minh

Ben Thanh station under package CP1a (underground section from Ben Thanh station to Opera House station) currently accounts for about 95% of the volume. The station is 236m long, 60m wide, about 32m deep, including 4 underground floors with 6 entrances up and down. This is the central station of Metro No. 1, connecting many other metro lines in the future.

Construction workers on the ground above Ben Thanh station, January 2022. Photo: Gia Minh

Ben Thanh Station started construction in 2016. To serve the construction of the station, Le Loi Street, the section through Ben Thanh market – a busy area in the center of Saigon, is fenced. The road surface will be returned, landscape redesign will help open the area, facilitate trade, business, and service development.

Previously, two other underground stations of Metro No. 1 including Opera House and Ba Son stations were handed-over by the investor.

Metro No. 1 has a total investment of more than VND 43,700 billion (~USD 1,9 billion), for nearly 20 km long from Long Binh depot (Thu Duc City) to Ben Thanh station. The project has imported 11 out of 17 trains, which are expected to be tested in the middle of this year. The metro line currently reaches nearly 89%, the plan is to put it into operation in 2023.

The site clearance completion of Metro No. 2 is unknown

The land price coefficient in District 3 has not been approved. In many cases, the compensation price has not been agreed, making site clearance at Metro No. 2 project unknown and when it will be completed.

The Urban Railway Management Board (MAUR – investor) said that the site clearance rate at Metro No. 2 project (Ben Thanh – Tham Luong) reached more than 83%. The route passes through Districts 1, 3, 10, 12, Tan Binh and Tan Phu, with a total clearance of more than 251,000 m2 with 603 affected cases. The total cost of compensation and resettlement support for the project is more than VND 4,350 billion (~USD 190 million).

Construction area of station S9 – Ba Queo, Tan Binh district has been cleared. Photo: Huu Khoa

According to the plan, Metro Line 2 will be put into operation in 2026. However, in addition to the delayed site clearance, the project still has some problems such as signing an appendix to the consulting contract, appraising loan conditions, loan extension, impact of Covid-19… These factors affect the selection of contractors for the main bidding packages of the project. Therefore, the investor is reviewing the actual situation to submit the adjustment of the construction time.

In the next email, Key National Infrastructure projects will be updated such as the progress of Long Thanh airport and the new highways…

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